NYPD Hustles Trans Woman into Unmarked Car
Trumpian tactics prompt lawmaker to commit to new legislation; advocates furious
BY MATT TRACY
A peaceful protest in
Manhattan on July 28
descended into mayhem
when plainclothes
NYPD offi cers in an unmarked
minivan stormed in, aggressively
capturing a trans woman, and
driving off without explanation.
The scene was caught on video
and widely shared on social media,
sparking anger from New Yorkers
and city leaders who swiftly demanded
answers.
The arrest came less than two
months after queer protesters were
beaten by NYPD offi cers during a
peaceful street protest following a
rally at the Stonewall Inn.
The video of the incident at 25th
Street and Second Avenue immediately
drew millions of social media
views and generated fear that law
enforcement offi cers in New York
City were copying the tactics employed
by federal agents in cities
like Portland, Oregon, where fl ailing
President Donald Trump, trailing
in polls ahead of his re-election
bid, deployed offi cers in a widelycriticized
authoritarian move.
The person arrested was later
identifi ed as Nikki, also known as
“Stickers,” an 18-year-old transgender
woman who has experienced
housing insecurity. As New
Yorkers wondered whether the cops
in question were NYPD or federal
offi cers, the NYPD issued a statement
saying Nikki was “wanted for
damaging police cameras during
5 separate criminal incidents in &
around City Hall Park.”
Without providing any evidence,
the police further asserted that arresting
offi cers were “assaulted”
with rocks and bottles. That was
not apparent in the video that circulated
widely.
Social media posts indicated
that Nikki was involved in the
Occupy City Hall movement that
emerged during the bruising budget
battle that unfolded earlier in
the summer. Advocates were trying
to raise attention to the effort
to reduce funding for the NYPD.
Advocates supporting Nikki
Nikki, known as “Stickers,” was held for hours after she was grabbed on the street by NYPD offi cers
who shoved her in an unmarked van.
gathered outside the NYPD’s fi rst
precinct, where she was held for
hours after being swept up in the
early evening. She was fi nally released
around 1 a.m. on July 29,
according to numerous social media
posts.
Elected offi cials sounded alarms
in the aftermath of the incident,
turning to Twitter to express frustration
and concern while seeking
answers from Mayor Bill de Blasio
and the NYPD.
Out gay City Council Speaker
Corey Johnson described the incident
as “incredibly disturbing”
and later said it was “totally unacceptable
that an arrest for minor
property crimes was carried out
in such an aggressive and disturbing
manner.” Public Advocate Jumaane
Williams and Comptroller
Scott Stringer also expressed “concern”
in tweets posted the evening
of July 28.
Numerous replies to Johnson’s
tweets about the incident, however,
criticized the speaker for approving
a budget that critics felt did
not adequately reduce funding of
the NYPD. Some felt the tweets by
city leaders like Johnson would not
translate to substantive change.
Social justice advocate Robert
Gangi, executive director of the
Police Reform Organizing Project,
was among those who responded
to one of Johnson’s tweets.
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“‘Disturbing.’ ‘Concerning.’ ‘We
need answers.’ Common lame responses
from pols to videos of brute
police violence,” Gangi wrote. “The
equivalent of ‘thoughts & prayers’
pols come up with when an American
lunatic shoots up a school. No,
what we need: de Blasio to fi re
ALL the guilty abusive cops.”
Councilmember Carlina Rivera
of Manhattan, who represents the
Manhattan district where the arrest
was made, said she was “exploring
legislation” in response to
the incident.
“It’s clear that using an unmarked
van and plainclothes offi
cers to make an arrest for vandalism
(in the middle of a peaceful
protest) is a massive overstep,” Rivera
wrote in a tweet.
De Blasio told reporters on July
29 that cops making the arrest
were part of the NYPD’s warrant
squad. He said he felt “it was the
wrong time and the wrong place to
effectuate that arrest,” but further
pointed out that the arrest was for
damaging property and stressed
that “no one is allowed to damage
police property.”
“My message to everyone is if
you’re out there protesting, protest
peacefully,” he said.
Governor Andrew Cuomo also
chimed in on the incident on July
29, calling the incident “very disturbing
and frightening.”
CIVIL LIBERTIES
“I am surprised at this time the
NYPD would take such obnoxious
action,” he added.
Some city lawmakers have grown
increasingly frustrated with what
they feel is a pattern of inaction by
the NYPD and de Blasio administration
in response to incidents of
police brutality that have been on
display during protests targeting
racial injustice this summer.
Out gay Councilmember Jimmy
Van Bramer of Queens, who voted
against the July 1 budget and argued
that it did not go far enough
in holding the NYPD accountable,
criticized the mayor after his press
conference on the morning after
the arrest.
“Tired of watching @NYCMayor
once again declare that no one will
be held accountable in the face of
NYPD abuse/ misconduct,” Van
Bramer wrote on Twitter. “He said
he will talk to @NYPDShea about
this horrifi c video. As he did when
an offi cer punched a homeless person.
Nothing changes.”
Van Bramer said in a tweet on
July 28 that de Blasio should have
demanded Police Commissioner
Dermot Shea’s resignation after
an NYPD vehicle was seen driving
directly into protesters during a
demonstration in late May.
Legal advocates were very vocal
on social media as the video
of the incident surfaced. Chase
Strangio, an out trans attorney at
the American Civil Liberties Union
who has played a leading role on
behalf of LGBTQ individuals in
prominent court cases, said Nikki
was “shoved into an unmarked
car by the city’s terroristic police
force” and further warned that law
enforcement would lie about the
events that unfolded.
“People have been grabbed and
shoved inside police cars for decades,”
Strangio tweeted. “Let’s
keep up the momentum of rage
and resistance for the streets that
are always policed like this.”
A GoFundMe page intended to
raise money to secure housing
for Nikki has drawn more than
$25,000 from more than 900 donors.
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